What do you do after hours for business development? Host an after-hours mixer for your customers and prospects.

Good things flow when people are relaxed. Choosing a neutral location, such as a professional downtown club for an after-hours mixer, was a great choice.

I called several nice clubs that appeared the most promising for a professional, relaxed after-hours business development event. Questions from each of the five clubs called went something like this:

• How are many are in your party? (I guessed between 20 to 40; had no idea)
• Will you be providing food and drinks? (First drink, yes; each club had a happy hour)
• What time do you plan to begin and wrap-up? (5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.)

I chose a landmark establishment that everyone in my city knows for an after-hours business development event. I chose Thursday for the event because most guests would be in town that day and more inclined to be in a good mood (the following day is Friday).

Questions arose, such as:

• How do I deliver invitations to enough customers and prospects so at least 20 professionals attend this after-hours business development social?
• How do I make this event a relaxing success for everybody so we can have an encore event?
• Why would anyone want to come to my event in the first place...what is my USP?
• What do I do if only five or so professionals show?

This first business mixer turned out a big success…here are some of the details.

Distributing invitations became a fun event and good reason to contact customers and prospects. Even if no one had shown up that fateful Thursday night, I still made progress with all the calls and e-mails to people with whom I wanted to communicate. On top of that, every person I spoke with liked the idea of meeting other professionals after hours for great food and a free drink.

The next question involved what to do when people arrived? The answer in my case was easy. After paying for the guests' first drink on a peanut-butter budget, there was no entertainment budget left for this after-hours business development event.

How can I communicate this to guests in a positive way? Here is the theme of the event:

"No Reason To Get Together But Enjoyment"

The guests did not know that I was referring to my budget in the theme. . From the theme came my unique selling proposition: "Come together for no reason but to enjoy yourself and you may meet someone to do business with"

Now the magical moment arrives: Thursday at 5:00 p.m. A friend and I quickly arrange tables and chairs for 30 people and protect this space with our lives. I am determined by this time that this event will be a success, regardless of the numbers.

Gradually, my customers, prospects and some I have no idea where they came from, begin to arrive. The atmosphere in the room is upbeat. A pianist is playing relaxing music and the guests are beginning to "gel."

With the help of the club's waitstaff and host, I am free to mingle and enjoy myself with guests. To my delight, guests are laughing, exchanging business cards, talking about business development and everything else under the sun.

When this after-hours business development evening was over, there had been 35 guests who ALL seemed to enjoy themselves. Over the next week, I heard from most of the guests telling me how much fun and business they actually realized from participating in my mixer.

I am planning "no reason to get together but enjoyment" mixers in 2011. Now, the "butterflies" I had before the event have flown away.

Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com